Joel Goldberg for The New York TimesMaria and Pat Toth met while working at a home improvement store, Pergament Home Center, in Port Jefferson, the village on the North Shore of Long Island. It was 1978. “She was the wallpaper girl and I was the third man — there’s the manager and assistant manager and third man,” Mr. Toth said.They married, bought a ranch in the South Shore hamlet of Shirley, N.Y., and later traded up to a raised ranch in Coram, a few miles south of Port Jefferson. By then, she was a special-education teacher and he was in sales.[Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com. Sign up here to have The Hunt delivered to your inbox every week.]“As I was getting close to retirement, the discussion we had was: We can’t live in this house anymore,” said Ms. Toth, 68. “It was just too big.”The 13 stairs from the front door to the kitchen were fine when the Toths entered empty-handed, but not so great when they had groceries and cat litter to haul. They also were tired of maintaining the yard and the above-ground pool.What’s more, Ms. Toth said, “I felt isolated from my family.” She longed to return to Port Jefferson, her hometown, which was closer to four of the couple’s five children and all nine grandchildren.And they knew that, if they lived in Port Jeff, as the locals call it, they could avail themselves of village amenities like free downtown parking and access to the two resident-only beaches.The Toths had a five-year plan to downsize. “But then she retired two years earlier, so it became a three-year plan,” said Mr. Toth, 69.They figured their Coram house would sell for around $700,000, so they set a budget of up to $650,000. They wanted to pay in cash. “We did not want any loans at this time in life,” Ms. Toth said.A year ago, she contacted Deniz Ozgur, an agent at OverSouth Real Estate, who was listing a Port Jefferson house and happened to know her son. The Toths told her they were open to a smaller ranch house with a little yard, or to a townhouse in a condominium or homeowners’ association, where most outdoor maintenance would be taken care of. They didn’t care much about community amenities like pools, but they knew their grandchildren would.They wanted at least two bedrooms, plus space for Mr. Toth’s freelance martial arts photography business. “I took martial arts when I was younger and I was the father taking pictures of my daughter’s sports,” he said. When he realized there were no photographers for karate schools, he filled the void. He also holds two part-time retail jobs.On early tours, every place seemed to have a dealbreaker. One house had a scarily steep driveway. Another was near a siren-plagued hospital route. A three-bedroom had just one bathroom. “For me, it was almost buyer’s fatigue,” Mr. Toth said.The Toths often envisioned how they might reconfigure a house to fit their needs, but Ms. Ozgur suggested they aim higher. “In a year or two, that house is going to start bothering you,” she said. “I told them: You need to find a house that works for you.”Among their options:No. 1Joel Goldberg for The New York TimesThis two-bedroom, three-bathroom townhome, with almost 1,400 square feet over two levels, dated from 1995. It had an open kitchen with a breakfast bar, a second-floor primary suite with carpeting and vaulted ceilings, a walk-in closet, and glass doors to a small bluestone patio bordered by trees. The condo community, not far from the Port Jefferson Long Island Rail Road station (which could be noisy), included a pool, tennis courts and a gym. The price was $499,000, with monthly fees of around $600.RE/MAX Signature Real EstateNo. 2Joel Goldberg for The New York TimesThis three-bedroom, three-bathroom, semi-attached townhouse from 1998 was open and bright, with vaulted ceilings, exposed beams and skylights in the living room, a picture window in the eat-in kitchen, a den and a basement. It covered three levels and had around 2,400 square feet, with a walk-out lower level and a 400-square-foot deck overlooking the woods. The community offered no common amenities. The price was $645,000, with monthly fees of around $100.Daniel Gale Sotheby's International RealtyNo. 3Joel Goldberg for The New York TimesThis 2,000-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath townhome from 1983 sat at the end of a woodsy cul-de-sac. It was originally a three-bedroom — a wall on the first floor had been removed to create a large suite. There was a skylight in the living room and a pass-through in the kitchen. Upstairs, the primary bedroom had a walk-in closet and a balcony overlooking the wood patio and grassy backyard. The community came with a heated pool. The price was $669,000, with monthly fees of $500.Signature Premier PropertiesFind out what happened next by answering these two questions:Which Would You Choose?0%Two-Bedroom Plus Shared Amenities0%Three-Bedroom With Three Levels0%Converted Two-Bedroom With BackyardWhich Did They Buy?0%Two-Bedroom Plus Shared Amenities0%Three-Bedroom With Three Levels0%Converted Two-Bedroom With Backyard